About “Data Error (Cyclic Redundancy Check)”
In the Windows Seven forums and other major forums and portals, a large number of people are talking about the “data error (cyclic redundancy check)” problem. Let’s see a real example:
Half of the folders were copied, then it stopped with the message: data error (cyclic redundancy check). I cannot decipher if this message is referring to the iPhone or the Windows PC hard drive.
answers.microsoft.com
What Is Cyclic Redundancy Check?
Before fixing the CRC error, you should know what the cyclic redundancy check is.
A cyclic redundancy check (CRC), designed by W. Wesley Peterson in 1961 and further developed by the CCITT (Consultative Committee for International Telegraphy and Telephony), is an error-checking technique used by computers to specially check the data on your hard drive and optical disks.
CRC error can be caused by a variety of factors, such as registry corruption, a cluttered hard disk, an unsuccessful program installation, misconfigured files, etc.
Fix Data Error (Cyclic Redundancy Check) on Inaccessible Hard Drive
Have your hard drives ever become inaccessible due to the “data error (cyclic redundancy check)” as shown in the picture below?
What should you do when there is a data error cyclic redundancy check in hard drives?
First, you should recover lost data from external hard drives, SD cards, USB drives, and other storage devices that have the “cyclic redundancy check “error.
Second, you can try to fix the cyclic redundancy check data error.
How to Recover Lost Data From a Drive With the CRC Error
You might be wondering:
“How to successfully recover lost data from a drive which reports CRC error?”
To recover data from a drive with CRC error, MiniTool Power Data Recovery is the best choice. It offers excellent performance, high security, and simple operations. Download the file data recovery software and have a try. Here, we take the free edition for example.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 1: Launch this professional data recovery software to get its main interface. Under the Logical Drives section, select the target drive that has the error “Drive is not accessible, data error (cyclic redundancy check)”, and click Scan.
Step 2: After scanning, all found data will be listed. Now, you can select a file and then click Preview or double-click the selected file to confirm whether it needs to be restored (Supported preview file types include document, graphic & picture, Video & Audio, Archive, Email, and other files).
Step 3: Finally, click Save to save all selected files in a safe place. It is recommended to store selected files on another drive.
Tip: The free edition can only recover lost data no more than 1 GB. To break this limitation, you need to choose its advanced edition. For instance, the Personal edition not only can recover all found data but also can recover data when PC won't boot.
Tip: If your hard drive is physically damaged, please send it to professional data recovery companies for help.
After data recovery, it is time to check the drive error and fix the cyclic redundancy check error using the following simple methods.
Method 1. Run the CHKDSK Utility
The full name of CHKDSK is checkdisk, which is used to check and fix disk errors. When you encounter data-related errors on Windows, you may need to consider running CHKDSK first. The steps are as follows:
Step 1: Press Windows + E keyboard shortcuts to open File Explorer and right-click the target drive you want to check. Then click Properties > Tools.
Step 2: Under the Tools tab, click Check under the Error checking.
Step 3: Wait for the process to complete and confirm if the data error (cyclic redundancy check) has been fixed.
Through this approach does not help when the target volume is used by another process. At this time, you can try the alternate method of running CHKDSK.
Step 1: Open the Command Prompt as administrator. Only the administrator has the necessary privileges to execute the scan.
Step 2: Type “chkdsk G: /f “into the Command Prompt (The letter “G” should be replaced with the actual drive letter you’d like to run the scan). Then press Enter to run the command.
Step 3: Wait for the scan to complete. The process might take longer if there are problems with the file system.
CHKDSK might also prompt you that the volume will be checked the next time the system restarts. Anyway, follow the given instructions.
If the cyclic redundancy check error still exists, you can try other ways listed below.
Method 2. Run the SFC Scan
Running the System File Checker (SFC) to scan the integrity of system files and replace corrupted versions with correct versions is also a way to solve the data error (cyclic redundancy check). Follow the steps below to run this utility.
Step 1: Run the Command Prompt as administrator.
Step 2: In the Command Prompt window, type sfc/scannow and then press Enter.
Step 3: Wait for the process to complete. Type exit and press the Enter key.
Step 4: Restart the computer and check whether the issue has been solved.
Method 3. Format the Disk
To format the drive to fix the cyclic redundancy check error, you can try using MiniTool Partition Wizard Free.
MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 1: Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard on the computer. And then, launch it to get its main interface.
Step 2: Select the target disk, and click the “Format Partition” feature from the left panel.
Step 3: Set the partition label, file system, and cluster size for the selected partition and click “OK“.
Step 4: Click the “Apply” button on the lower left corner to apply all the changes.
Step 5: Restart your PC.
After learning how to fix the “Hard Drive is not accessible, data error (cyclic redundancy check)” problem, let’s take a look at two other situations where you will encounter the CRC error and the corresponding solutions.
Fix Data Error (Cyclic Redundancy Check) in Outlook
After downloading emails from Microsoft Outlook to your local computer, you may receive one of the following error messages:
- File path\filename.pst could not be accessed. Data error. Cyclic redundancy check.
- Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
In these error messages, path\filename.pst corresponds to the location and the file name of the Personal Storage Table (PST) Files. For example, C:\mypst.pst.
Generally, a cyclic redundancy check error occurs when your PST files are corrupted or the hard disk has some issues where your PST file is currently stored.
In this situation, you need to repair Outlook PST files refer to this post: How Can You Fix Problems with Outlook PST and OST Data Files
Fix Data Error (Cyclic Redundancy Check) on a DVD Disc
Before I show you how to fix CRC error on a DVD, I want to share a story:
I am trying to install Sims 3 but this installation stops in the middle and says:
File: D:\GameDate\Packages\Fullbuild1.package
Error: Data error (cyclic redundancy check)
There can be different reasons for this problem, including the problems of the DVD, conflicting software (Paragon NTFS, Roxio Creator, CD emulation software like Alcohol 120%, Nero Image Drive), etc.
How to fix the cyclic redundancy check error on a DVD?
First, you should ensure that the DVD is not damaged or scratched, and then clean it with a cleaning kit. After that, scan and defrag the DVD if necessary – make certain that the DVD has enough space left on it to install the game.
If none of the above works, the following may help you:
- Right-click the Start button and select Run.
- Type msconfig and press Enter.
- In the Services tab, disable all items.
- In the Startup tab, uncheck all items.
- Restart the computer in Safe Mode (Press F8 during bootup).
- Insert the Sims 3 DVD.
- Open Windows File Explorer to locate SETUP.EXE on the disc (The actual filename may vary slightly).
- Right-click SETUP.EXE and select the option to run it as an Administrator.
- Installation should now proceed without any CRC errors.
- Reboot the computer normally.
After seeing the 3 situations of CRC error, I guess you may have a basic understanding of this “data error (cyclic redundancy check)” issue. Next, let’s move on to the following part.
Bonus Tips for Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check Fix/Repair
Tip 1. If you receive the warning “data error (cyclic redundancy check)” and your drive contains any important data, it’s best to recover all lost data immediately before attempting to fix the error.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery is the secret to recovering lost data from external hard drives, SD cards, USB drives, and other storage devices that reported the cyclic redundancy check error.
Tip 2. Although MiniTool Power Data Recovery can help recover data, data loss happens often. Also, the cyclic redundancy data error could appear at any time, which is annoying.
To avoid data loss caused by various reasons like CRC error, the best method is backing up all your needed data. You can get more information and detailed steps from this “Backup files on Windows 10” post.
Bottom Line
Hope the instructions in this post can help you fix the cyclic redundancy check data error effectively.
If you happen to know other ways to repair CRC error, don’t hesitate to let us know and we’ll update this guide.
If you have any doubts or suggestions about MiniTool software, please leave them in the following comments zone or directly send them to [email protected]. We will solve it as soon as possible.
Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check FAQ
- Recover lost data.
- Run the CHKDSK utility to do a basic check and automatically repair problems with files and folders.
- Run the SFC scan.
- Format the drive.
- Right-click the target drive you want to check.
- Click Properties > Tools.
- Click Check under Error checking.
Cyclic redundancy check, CRC, is an error-detecting code. CRC error is widely used to detect accidental changes to raw data in digital networks and storage devices. A cyclic redundancy check indicates a bad spot on your hard drive.
Packet error, as one of the most common reasons for CRC errors, occurs when network communications are bad or go in and out. Noise and poor wiring also can cause CRC errors.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Shirley graduated from English major and is currently an editor of MiniTool Team. She likes browsing and writing IT-related articles, and is committed to becoming a professional IT problem solver. The topic of her articles are generally about data recovery, data backup, and computer disk management, as well as other IT issues. In spare time, she likes watching movies, hiking and fishing.